> I think this is why we see the oft-repeated trope (on HN especially) that people who post happy photos on social media must actually be secretly sad and miser

> I think this is why we see the oft-repeated trope (on HN especially) that people who post happy photos on social media must actually be secretly sad and miserable behind the scenes This is not about success, but about being realistic about what you can expect from your life. Everyone is going to be unhappy from time to time and everyone will have downs ; this is just not what you usually see on social media. So when people say this, it's to reduce people's feeling of being inadequate, not to take away success. If you think about it, it's actually two sides of the same coin: People only see humongous companies and insane salaries, but not the years of hard work that went into getting there. Similarly, they only see happy faces on social media, but not the bad sides that everyone has.